In Northern China, the principal building of a traditional standard courtyard house always faces south. The entrance leads directly to the sitting room where the hosts and guests drink tea, chat and dine. There’s usually a large square table and a few armchairs in the sitting room.
Two bedrooms, one at each side of the sitting room, are always the same size and their ceilings are the same height, another manifestation of the philosophy of balance. The bedrooms’ kang beds (an earthen bed with heat channels underneath) are heated in winter by a connection to the stove in the sitting room. The void channels under the kang bed function not only as a heating system, but also as an efficient system that channels smoke out of the rooms and into the chimney.
Extracted from Energy Bagua – The Secret Code of Life, Chapter 2 by Grandmaster JinBodhi, 2020.
Energy Bagua – The Secret Code of Life (English): https://www.cibeiyin.com/en/v103006000002?___from_store=tw